Nvidia has outed its next-gen Tegra 4 mobile CPU at CES. As expected, the chip packs 72 GPU cores, offering a 6x bump on the Tegra 3’s graphics processing performance — to make the most of higher resolution displays — along with the first quad-core ARM Cortex-A15, to boost web browsing speed by 2.6x and deliver improved app performance. Also on board: LTE support.

Nvidia is talking up the computation photography capabilities of the Tegra 4, with automatic support for HDR photos and video, and also its power efficiency — claiming it consumes up to 45 per cent less power than the Tegra 3 in “common use cases”, thanks to features such as a battery saver core for low power during standard use. The Tegra 4 supports up to 14 hours of HD video playback on phones.

Also today at CES, Nvidia has launched an open gaming handheld — dubbed…

This talk from TEDxBrussels felt like a breath of fresh stage. A collaboration among science writer John Bohannon, choreographer Carl Flink and the dance troupe Black Label Movement, the talk is illustrated with dance, not slides.

“I think that bad PowerPoint presentations are a serious threat to the global economy,” Bohannon says. “As you’re all aware, we face difficult economic times. I come to you with a modest proposal for easing the financial burden … Let’s use artists instead of PowerPoint.”

We at TED love slide decks — PowerPoint, Keynote, Prezi (full disclosure: TED was an early investor in Prezi) and all kinds of advanced slide-fu. A great deck helps speakers add visuals to their spoken words, stay on track, and craft memorable reveals. But at the same time, we still see…

Facebook’s next messaging move is all about voice. Today it released an update for its standalone Messenger for iOS and Android apps that lets users send up to one-minute voice messages. It’s also testing open source VoIP calling between Canadian iOS Messenger users that runs over a user’s existing data plan. Both power hands-free communication between friends, which helps drivers and reduces mobile typing.

The updates to the apps should be available in the app stores later today.

Social Voicemail

Most people hate voicemail so it may seem curious that Facebook is adding voice messaging to Messenger. Even with visual voice mail, many say they simply never listen to their cell phone’s answering machine. But most voicemail is just a longwinded way of saying “call me back.” Facebook sees a new opportunity in making voice messaging a seamless part of a conversation, not a replacement or a bridge to it.

Warning for those who wish to install OTA: Since iPhone 5 users might be suffering from the first issue, those users must install an updater app on their device before being able to install this update OTA.